Flower May/June 2020

FLOWER MAY•JUNE 2020

HOUSE l GARDEN l LIFESTYLE

the MAGIC of OUTDOOR LIVING

+

A ROSY OASIS

Stroll Prince Charles’s Gardens at Highgrove A DREAMY NASHVILLE HOME

PHOTO BY LAUREY W. GLENN

MAY• JUNE 2020

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In Harmony with Nature

Contents

When Lorie and Gavin Duke purchased their 1920s house in Nashville, they drew upon Gavin’s expertise in landscape architecture and Lorie’s flair for decorating to create a family-friendly home that blurs the boundaries between indoors and out

“Just living isn’t enough,” said the butterfly. “One must also have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”

–HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN

FEATURES

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Plantsville Pines

PHOTO BY LAUREY W. GLENN

When a garden is built on hopes and dreams, there are no limits

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The Cotswolds home of Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, sits surrounded by gardens, meadows, allées, and ancient walls with climbing roses

To create a vibrant home and lifestyle for her family, Australian designer Charlotte Coote remade a house steeped in childhood memories into a place filled with nostalgia and wonder

The celebrated socialite and philanthropist’s house welcomes back her daughter and family to continue their tradition of summering in Newport, Rhode Island

The Majesty of Highgrove Gardens

A Lasting Impression

The Wit & The Whim of Oatsie Charles

ON THE COVER: Rose-bowered arbors, evergreens, and a chorus of annuals and perennials provide year-round color in this 3-acre

Connecticut paradise designed by the homeowners, George Anthony Jones and Dean Delgiudice. Photographed by Kindra Clineff

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Contents DEPARTMENTS

SCENE

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We’ve got our eyes on...

3-D Chinese paintings by Anita Wong, metal-flower sculptures, a woodland tabletop collection, transparent handbags by Olivia Cheng, and new books to inspire you

40 32

IN BLOOM

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Entertain

A Chinois-inspired soirée orchestrated by Rebecca Gardner of Savannah, Georgia

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Decorate

Add some style to your outdoor living spaces

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Flowers

California floral designer Kristen Caissie creates a long-lasting centerpiece using potted plants

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Design Q&A

A conversation with Dallas designer Denise McGaha and a peek into her guest suite

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IN EVERY ISSUE Watering Can 6 What’s Online 10 Sources 86 At the Table 88

The Land Gardeners focus on the cultivation of soil to produce their gorgeous cut blooms and gardens

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Jewelry

Anabela Chan’s fine floral jewelry, crafted from recycled aluminum and simulated gemstones

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May •June 2020

PHOTO (WALLPAPER) BY STEPHEN KARLISCH

Garden

PHOTO (WALLPAPER) BY STEPHEN KARLISCH

Watering can

A Note from the Editor

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature, and God.” —Anne Frank

are reminded that nature has not been sidelined.

As serendipity would have it, this issue celebrates “The Magic of Outdoor Living.” At no time in our history has this been a more relevant and inspiring— even necessary—theme. Our editors offer rare and exquisite experiences for your reading pleasure: Tour the gardens of HRH Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, at Highgrove in the Cotswolds; visit the rose-filled world of Connecticut’s Plantsville Pines; stroll beyond the gates of The Whim, the house and garden of the late Newport, Rhode Island, icon Oatsie Charles; enjoy an inspiring glimpse of the fresh and chic indoor–outdoor lifestyle of Nashville landscape architect Gavin Duke and his family; and attend a swell soirée on the terrace in Savannah, Georgia, hosted by Rebecca Gardner, conjurer of enchantingly unforgettable parties and houses.

None of these stories will cure this virus, but they might just flatten the curve of our nerves a bit. And who knows? If by the time you read this, the pandemic is on the decline, you’ll still have all these beautiful outdoor moments to bask in and be inspired by.

SDG,

Margot Shaw EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Please send your comments, triumphs, challenges & questions to: wateringcan@flowermag.com OR Letters to the Editor | Flower magazine P.O. Box 530645 I Birmingham, AL 35253 Get the Flower email newsletter! Sign up at flowermag.com/news

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May•June 2020

PORTRAIT BY BETH HONTZAS

USUALLY THERE’S A SPECIFIC MESSAGE I want to communicate when I sit down to write this letter. But the world has changed. By the time you read this, the coronavirus may be on its way out, and I pray that it is.

But either way, I must address this surreal season in which we find ourselves. The problem is I don’t really know where we are. This is disconcerting to someone of very strong opinions, such as myself. My uncle used to say of me, “Seldom right, never in doubt.” I acknowledge that may still be the case, but maybe a bit less so . . . on both counts. Ordinarily I would have formulated a position, grounded in stats, observations, and reports from my various news sources. But one thing that this tectonic shift has highlighted for me is that I don’t know, and won’t know for a while, the outcome of this outbreak. And that’s OK. I just have to operate on the basis of what I do know, and I have to love.

I can call an older isolated friend, share sacrificially of my paper products, post beauty and humor, cut glorious spring blooms, play with my puppies, cook for my husband (a rare occurrence), try to comfort my children, give to the entities in the trenches helping all those in need, and I can pray. Beyond these things, I— together with the exceptional Flower team—can bring you a little beauty.

Interestingly, one of the salutary side effects of this virus is the urge to linger outdoors. It’s easier to be acceptably distant from others in wide-open spaces, vitamin D abounds, fresh air fills our lungs, and we

PORTRAIT BY BETH HONTZAS

VOLUME 14, ISSUE 3

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What’s Online TIME TO BLOOM. VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR INSPIRATION AND ONLINE EXCLUSIVES Floral design by Destiny Pinson

EXPERT FLORAL TUTORIALS Learn the art of arranging from top floral designers with Flower’s collection of step-by-step guides, full of tips and techniques that you can apply to your own creations. flowermag.com/how-to

Home of Jennifer Amodei

The right blend of creature comforts, fresh air, and nature makes an at-home retreat that you’ll never want to leave. Feather your outdoor nest with ideas from these porches, patios, terraces, decks, and rooftop gardens. flowermag.com/dreamy-outdoor-living-spaces

AMERICA’S MOST RENOWNED PUBLIC GARDENS

Hills & Dales Estate

Celebrate the beauty and horticultural excellence of outstanding public gardens across the country. flowermag.com/ public-gardens

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PHOTOS (TOP TO BOTTOM): SARA ESSEX BRADLEY, TODD TYLER, AND COURTESY OF HILLS & DALES ESTATE

DREAMY OUTDOOR LIVING SPACES

PHOTOS (TOP TO BOTTOM): SARA ESSEX BRADLEY, TODD TYLER, AND COURTESY OF HILLS & DALES ESTATE

W h a t We ’ v e G o t O u r E y e s O n

Scene

By Alice Welsh Doyle

AT JUST 5 YEARS OLD

ARTIST

Anita Wong BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL CHINESE ART AND CONTEMPORARY WORKS, THE ARTIST FOUND HER MEDIUM WITH EXPRESSIVE BRUSHSTROKES AND ARRESTING COMPOSITIONS ROOTED IN NATURE

Anita Wong started learning the Lingnan style of Chinese painting, continuing a generationsold family tradition. After studying with a master painter for more than 10 years, Wong moved to London to attend Central Saint Martins after graduating from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Later she received an MFA and MA from Maryland Institute College of Art, where she was a teaching assistant.

Despite all her studies, Wong admits to being lost as an artist for a long time.

Trained as a traditionalist, she found herself following a lot of rules. “I didn’t know how to break them, and I didn’t want to give up on traditional art just

LEFT: Preserved (3-D

Chinese painting with pressed dried flowers framed in a shadowbox.

“This is inspired by a squirrel and flowers grown in my backyard,” says Wong.

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Scene WHAT WE’VE GOT OUR EYES ON ...

RIGHT:

Preserved (3-D Chinese painting inspired by peonies and finches).

BELOW: Blue (sun print of original bird painting).

“I placed real flowers on top of photography paper during sun exposure,” says Wong.

FOREVER IN BLOOM

Beautiful & Carefree

because the world had already moved on to contemporary art.

I didn’t want to blindly follow any trend or to create art for the wrong reason,” she explains. Soon Wong noticed her art was changing, as moves to different cities exposed her to new people, stories, and art. “Visually, it evolved from being really traditional to something I’m comfortable with—a mix and a collection of my memories and events,” says Wong. “Many say my style is expressive brush work, Chinese Impressionism, but I am trying to stay away from these labels and letting my art evolve with my age, feelings, and experience.” Regardless of the label, we find her art expressive, engaging, and unique— embracing the past with a studied eye on the here and now. anitayanwong.com; Instagram: @anitayanwong

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Metal artist Tommy Mitchell and interior designer Charlotte Moss have teamed up to create a collection of flowers inspired by horticulturist Robert Furber’s 1730 book Twelve Months of Flowers.

Each flower is handmade of copper, brass, and steel. Some are housed in acrylic wall studies and some in cachepots, like the July delphinium ($1,200). tommymitchell company.com

Whimsical Woodland Christopher Spitzmiller, known for his colorful ceramic lamps, and artist and author Cathy Graham collaborated for their Woodland tabletop collection. It’s fanciful, fresh, and plays well with other existing pieces in your collection. Starting at $95 for a coffee or tea mug. Special order at christopherspitzmiller.com.

Pressed for All Time Olivia Cheng started by curating and selling vintage clothing through a resale app. Then in 2018 while earning a business degree at New York University, she launched Dauphinette, a line that reworks vintage outerwear— painting leather jackets with Warhol-esque flowers and adding feathers, crochet, unconventional buttons, and embroidery. From there, Cheng began making handbags, jewelry, and other ready-to-wear items with the same flair as the outerwear. We love the transparent handbags, named in honor of Ina Garten, in which real pressed flowers are sealed into custom-cut paillettes with vintage sequins from Cheng’s personal collection. “More than anything, I wanted to share a new way of interacting with recycled materials that I wasn’t seeing in the industry, and to create a community and conversation around that,” she says. Falling for Cheng’s designs isn’t difficult. As Ina would say, “How easy is that?” Ina’s Violas bag, $345, dauphinette.com

Scene WHAT WE’VE GOT OUR EYES ON ...

French Country Cottage Inspired Gatherings

by Courtney Allison (Gibbs Smith, 2020), $35

FRENCH COUNTRY COTTAGE INSPIRED GATHERINGS

SUMMER TO SUMMER

READING LIST

Summer to Summer: Houses by the Sea

by Jennifer Ash Rudick, Photography by Tria Giovan (Vendome, 2020), $75

Inspiration in Spades

ENTERTAINING IDEAS, FLORAL INSTRUCTION, DREAMY SUMMER HOMES, AND A FRESH EXPLORATION OF THE MEANING OF FLOWERS

Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style

by Christin Geall (Princeton Architectural Press, 2020), $28

The Language of Flowers

by Odessa Begay (HarperCollins, 2020), $28

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(Vendome, 2020), writer Jennifer Ash Rudick and photographer Tria Giovan, the talents behind Out East: CULTIVATED Houses and Gardens of the Hamptons (Vendome, 2017) have teamed up again to deliver a collection of magical summer houses in Maine, Nantucket, Provincetown, Martha’s Vineyard, and more, showcasing a bevy of styles for summertime living. We can almost feel the beachside breezes and sand under our feet while gathering decorating ideas to try.

Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style (Princeton Architectural Press, 2020) by Christin Geall offers a fresh, thoughtful approach to arranging. Art and art history have influenced Geall, and she writes about how paintings can provide guidance about color, light, and movement. The chapter on creativity encourages all us to train, practice, and study in order to develop artistically. “Creatives, in my opinion, are largely made, not born,” writes Geall.

In French Country Cottage Inspired Gatherings (Gibbs Smith, 2020), blogger, author, and photographer Courtney Allison’s second book, Allison applies her design aesthetic to entertaining. She gives advice and shares her experience on topics such as linens, lighting, place settings, and flowers. Some of her signatures include vintage silver, etched-crystal wineglasses, and rustic containers of lush blooms. “Old painted buckets, metal bins, gathering baskets, and zinc or galvanized vessels are some of my favorite picks for large arrangements,” she writes.

The Language of Flowers by Odessa Begay (Harper Collins, 2020) explores an old and well-loved topic, preserving the fancy of the Victorian volumes but with a more contemporary approach. Fifty flowers are presented, drawing on a rich array of art, literature, the customs of various religions and cultures, folklore, horticulture, and more. We love reading about our favorite flowers, and the illustrations are engaging and lively.

PHOTOS BY (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) COURTNEY ALLISON, TRIA GIOVAN, AND CHRISTIN GEALL

IN SUMMER TO SUMMER: HOUSES BY THE SEA

PHOTOS BY (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) COURTNEY ALLISON, TRIA GIOVAN, AND CHRISTIN GEALL

Decorate • Entertain • Garden • Jewelry • Q&A

in Bloom ENTERTAIN

Some Enchanted Evening REBECCA GARDNER CONCOCTS THE PERFECT PARTY BY MIXING THE TALENTS OF FRIENDS WITH HER BOUNDLESS, CLEVER IMAGINATION

I

“I am always flattered to be invited to someone’s personal space and appreciate the inevitable effort,” says Gardner. “It can feel a little vulnerable, which is beautiful.

It’s a very specific love language.”

nterior and event designer Rebecca Gardner of Houses and Parties has loved to set the scene for shimmering happenings from an early age.

“I celebrated my 8th birthday with a fashion show party,” she recalls. “My friends came dressed in fantasy looks and walked the driveway down the side of my house. A glamorous local newscaster served as emcee and announced each guest by name.

I closed the show dressed as a bride in shiny off-white polyester.” Gardner credits her uncle—a multitalented aesthete with a flair for the chic and surprising gesture in cooking, entertaining, and design—with inspiring her own style.

On hearing of my plans to visit Savannah, Georgia, for a couple of book-signing

By Margot Shaw Photography by Chia Chong

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in Bloom ENTERTAIN

LEFT: Even the

dinner plates— Chinese Bouquet

by Herend— adhered to the theme. Gardner labels items to be used ahead of time to facilitate pre-party setup.

BELOW: The enchanting invitation, hand-painted by decorative painter Bob Christian

“I wanted the dinner party to be full of confident color, spunky guests, and little surprises, inspired by the guest of honor.”

—REBECCA GARDNER

events, Rebecca, a good friend of mine, seized upon the idea of throwing a dinner party to celebrate the occasion. It provided the perfect opportunity for me to experience her genius firsthand. I soon realized this would not be your grandmother’s dinner party (unless your grandmother was Elsa Maxwell, who famously opined that the best thing you could offer your guests is the unexpected).

First off, the fanciful Chinois invitation, designed by decorative painter Bob Christian, printed on watercolor paper, and sheathed in a cerise 8-by-14-inch envelope, conveyed the message of a special occasion in the offing.

“I wanted the dinner party to be full of confident color, spunky guests, and little surprises, inspired by the guest of honor,” says Rebecca. “Since I have a collection of vintage 1940s painted Chinese lanterns, I couldn’t wait to string all 175 en masse and really low over the tables so guests had to duck into this cozy, warmly glowing world of pleasure.”

She sourced an 18th-century chinoiserie pattern of “quirky characters and whimsical pagodas” on a Schumacher toile to create tablecloths. Her vision was of a “bright and festive Chinois cacophony.”

The predominantly red and purple palette was echoed in the lovingly nurtured orchids in sheet moss–wrapped pots spiked with red-painted sticks that mimicked coral branches. Rebecca wove small, jaunty arrangements of carnations down the center of the table and filled a

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in Bloom ENTERTAIN

collection of colorful enamel dishes with marzipan fruit brought back from London. Bright-red Paola Navone twisted candlesticks with purple and lavender tapers from London designer Matilda Goad magically lit the scene.

Dinner was family-style, cheekily served out of Chinese takeout boxes. The menu included crab cakes, crispy ginger beef, chicken satay, jasmine rice, and bok choy. Dumplings were passed in bamboo steamer baskets.

“And for dessert I made chocolate ganache for green tea ice cream with toasted coconut, served with gigantic homemade fortune cookies containing directives for the guests such as “Confucius says, ‘Man who doesn’t use chopsticks removes one piece of clothing,’ ” Rebecca says.

Unexpected to say the least.

She continues, “I invited some of my favorite people, all ages and backgrounds, that I was sure Margot would appreciate and adore. What better gift than a new friend?

My only criteria is an exceptional sense of humor.” Among the partygoers: Courtland Stevens (owner of Courtland & Co., who co-hosted the celebration); India Hicks; Eleanor Larvan, associate vice president for creative direction at SCAD; chic and sunny lifestyle influencer Sara Bray; and Jon Kully, owner of the new Perry Lane Hotel.

In keeping with Rebecca’s style motto of “More is always better,” she confides, “I like abundant tables that show the effort, that communicate ‘Come in, sit next to a new friend, glow in the candlelight, have a delicious meal. This little experience was created just for you.’ ”

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CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE LEFT: A vintage seating chart • Mottahedeh Barriera Corallina plates, featuring a collar of raised hand-painted red coral, made for an interesting contrast with the soft, floral hand-embroidered napkins from Courtland & Co. • Irreverent fortunes were custom printed for the fortune cookies.

For more information, see Sources, page 86

in Bloom DECORATE: MOOD

Alfresco Living

WHILE WE’RE ALL NESTING INTO OUR NEW NORMALS AND SPENDING MORE TIME AT HOME, IT’S THE SEASON TO GET OUTSIDE AND WATCH THE UNFURLING OF SPRING INTO SUMMER Produced by Amanda Smith Fowler

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1 EAST LONDON

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PARASOL COMPANY The Whitney 2M Parasol Let this parasol throw some shade at your next picnic. $675 eastlondonparasols.com 2 CASTELLE Savannah Chaise Lounge by Barclay Butera We love the rhythmic and detailed base. $3,202

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castellefurniture.com 3 BEVOLO GAS &

ELECTRIC LIGHTS Governor Flush Mount Lanterns and Square Hanging Light Personal favorites, always casting the perfect glow bevolo.com

“I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day’s work” —Frank Lloyd Wright

4 BARLOW TYRIE

Layout Stacking Armchair Handsome and highly functional

$1,120 teak.com

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5 KINGSLEY BATE Catherine Club Chair Pull it up to a dinner table or a fire side. $450 kingsleybate.com 6 BROWN JORDAN

OUTDOOR KITCHENS Elements by Tecno Minimalist in its form, but a true maximalist in color brownjordanoutdoor kitchens.com

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in Bloom 8

DECORATE: MOOD

7 PERENNIALS FABRICS & RUGS Perennials by Timothy Corrigan Lush fabrics add depth and personality to any outdoor space.

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perennialsfabrics.com 8 GLOSTER Ambient Mesh Small Lantern Possibilities abound with this rechargeable, portable light. gloster.com 9 SUMMER CLASSICS HOME

Santa Barbara Teak Lounge Chair I adore the smooth curves and clean lines.

$2,128 with cushion summerclassicshome.com 10 CENTURY FURNITURE Sail Side Table by Allison Paladino A simple, purposeful complement to most any seat

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$1,347 centuryfurniture.com 11 ARCHITECTURAL ACCENTS Mid-19th-Century English Sundial An original calibrated brass plate and scrolled gnomon sit atop an octagonal, carvedlimestone base.

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$12,750 architecturalaccents.com 12 LLOYD FLANDERS Milan Lounge Chair With its classic shape, it’s the first chair everyone gravitates to. lloydflanders.com

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13 KALAMAZOO

OUTDOOR GOURMET Countertop Artisan Fire Pizza Oven You’re never too old for a pizza party.

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$8,995 kalamazoogourmet.com 14 CASSINA

Sail Out Sofa by Rodolfo Dordoni Ideal for both perching and napping

cassina.com

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in Bloom DECORATE: FLOWERS

Pretty, Lasting Centerpiece

IN AN EXCERPT FROM HER NEW BOOK GATHERING: SETTING THE NATURAL TABLE CALIFORNIA FLORAL DESIGNER KRISTEN CAISSIE SHOWS US HOW TO CREATE A LASTING CENTERPIECE USING POTTED PLANTS

By Kristen Caissie • Photography by Gemma and Andrew Ingalls

A

lot of the work we do is with cut flowers, but for this setting I wanted to work with materials that last. Potted plants are a very easy way to decorate a table scape, and afterward you can take the plants with you or give them as hostess gifts—they have the benefit of staying power and add a beautiful decorative touch to any table. Potted florals offer an enduring décor option for special occasions. If you bring them home, simply put them on your patio table, where they will live permanently as decorative pieces and provide longer-lasting enjoyment than cut flower arrangements. You can also add these potted accents to table settings, adding other floral details that complement the potted arrangements.

ABOVE LEFT: Caissie foraging for her designs. ABOVE RIGHT: A simple outdoor table

set outside the greenhouse at Bodega, a multipurpose place with a wine shop and tasting room, a classic greenhouse, and outdoor spaces in Los Alamos, California.

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in Bloom DECORATE: FLOWERS

“ You can evoke the garden in many ways, by moving your table outdoors, or bringing the garden to the table with the creation of potted arrangements. —KRISTEN CAISSIE

Kristen’s tips for potted plants: I’M A BIG FAN of texture and of the variety that’s found in meadow grasses and wild florals. For this arrangement, we incorporated grasses like lamb’s ear, Santa Barbara daisy, and yarrow. I love how they each play a part, adding sculptural shape and geometry to a landscape. I wanted to play with that idea using potted accents planted with delicate grasses and petite florals.

WILDFLOWERS TEND TO BE FRAGILE and seasonal, but when I can, I love to integrate them into table scapes.

I WANTED THE POTS FOR THIS TABLE to be modern and clean. You can always replant the florals in different types of containers, depending on your personal taste.

THERE’S NO FOCAL FLOWER in this table scape, just the planters, which are decorative and spare.

For more information, see Sources, page 86

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ABOVE: Caissie puts the finishing touches on her whimsical centerpiece. BELOW: The arrangement complements the ceramics by Michelle Blade, whose artwork often features elements of nature.

in Bloom DECORATE: Q&A

A Recipe for Style FLOWER VISITS VISITS WITH DALLAS DESIGNER DENISE MCGAHA TO LEARN ABOUT HER BEGINNINGS, HER PASSIONS, AND HOW SHE PUTS TOGETHER A FIVE-STAR GUEST SUITE

By Alice Welsh Doyle • Photography by Stephen Karlisch

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lower: You don’t have a traditional background for an interior designer.

Tell us about your upbringing and work experience. Denise McGaha: I grew up in rural Texas and was involved with agriculture through the 4-H club. One thing I learned at a young age was the value of hard work, and that has brought me to where I am today.

I majored in agricultural economics at Texas A & M,

but fashion has always been a big part of who I am.

I interviewed at Neiman Marcus, but they told me I needed retail experience. So I went and got it by becoming a general manager at a landscape retailer. I was eventually hired at Neiman’s and started at the bottom working my way up, and I loved it. I was lured away to Sprint by a big salary.

It wasn’t really me, but we had the income to build a home. That’s when I became enthralled with the

THIS PAGE: Alexa Hampton for Theodore Alexander headboard in fabric by Celerie Kemble for Schumacher;

globe lantern from Circa Lighting; Peacock Alley bedding; Denise McGaha for Currey & Co. lamps with custom shades in Brunschwig & Fils Les Touches fabric • Nightstands by Michael Berman for Theodore Alexander • Curtains in Schumacher’s Peacock in Emerald

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in Bloom DECORATE: Q&A

“I always do a mood board at the beginning of the year, and for 2020, the word ‘maximalism’ was at the top!”

—DENISE MCGAHA

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE:

“The bathroom was designed around this wonderful botanical wallpaper from Cole & Son,” says McGaha. • Special touches like the Addison Weeks hardware bring some glam to the small space. • The embroidered lines on the luxurious Matouk towels and shower curtain play off the rusty-orange and blue color scheme.

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whole process, from the foundation up. Then 9/11 happened five days after the birth of our first child, and I needed to reinvent myself.

I knew I wanted to return to a creative field with more flexibility.

What did you come up with? While I enjoyed building our home, I was very frustrated as well. I realized I could help that industry streamline their processes, work better with deadlines, and make the homebuilding experience more positive for everyone. I became a consultant for the industry and opened my own business, which combined my practical business sense with my eye for style. The tagline for my firm is “Designing with a Deadline.”

What is your approach when working with clients? I know designers say this a lot, but I strive for projects to feel authentic, like my clients, not my viewpoint (although I certainly state my opinion!). I want to be a storyteller and tell their story, incorporating their collections and heirlooms in the design while stretching them to go beyond the expected.

What are some ideas we can expect from a McGaha-designed room? I really strive for tension—high and low, found and fine, with layers and textures throughout and the push-pull of hard and soft in finishes and fabrics. I think every room needs a few rough edges. I am a huge believer in lighting. I think it can make or break a room.

How do you achieve this tension? I view decorating like a recipe. You can follow the recipe verbatim, and it will be fine, or you can put your touches in it—the secret ingredients— and it will be fabulous. I think 80% of design is

in Bloom DECORATE: Q&A

“While the term ‘gallery wall’ seems overused, the concept is not. This is a mix of things my husband and I had bought but never hung. My guests will enjoy looking at these pieces because they are a reflection of our tastes,” says McGaha.

planned and 20% is improvisation—that’s where the magic happens. When clients understand that and see how I use my secret ingredients—those things that speak to me—they become more educated, trustful, and better understand the value of using an interior designer.

The project we are featuring—a guest suite in your own home—is a testament to that thought process. Tell us about it. A guest room is a great place to relax, have fun, and break rules. I wanted this guest suite to be a mix of things I love, such as the dramatic upholstered headboard and custom lampshades. The room also combines classic elements such as floral-print window treatments with more modern pieces such as the side tables. Above all, guest rooms should always be comfortable, so I include amenities—a coffee maker so they don’t have to go to the kitchen in their robes, a bedside charging station, snacks, and an Apple TV so they can watch their current Netflix obsession. And flowers are essential.

Tell us what’s next for Denise McGaha Interiors? I’m opening a new design studio on Dragon Street in Dallas, which will be part showroom as well. It’s going to have a presentation space with upholstered Fortuny walls and many other special features, but I don’t want to give away everything—you’ll have to see it for yourself!

For more information, see Sources, page 86

in Bloom GARDEN

A Great Awakening FROM THE RAMBLING GROUNDS OF A STORIED ENGLISH MANOR, BRIDGET ELWORTHY AND HENRIETTA COURTAULD OF THE LAND GARDENERS ARE ON A MISSION TO MAKE GARDENS MORE FULLY ALIVE

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hose only vaguely familiar with the work of Bridget Elworthy and Henrietta Courtauld, the women at the helm of The Land Gardeners, could be forgiven for missing the point. After all, the firm is best known for drop-dead gorgeous arrangements of dinner-plate dahlias, English roses, and masses of other blooms picked from the gardens at Wardington Manor in Oxfordshire, England.

Their sought-after arrangements—loose, luxurious and languid—feel like English aristocracy in floral form. And yet, flowers

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are merely a byproduct of their true passion: the cultivation of soil, the real maestro of the symphony playing out above ground.

One wouldn’t guess soil composition would be much of a conversation starter, but when Elworthy and Courtauld met at the door of their children’s nursery school in London, they found a kindred spirit. Both are trained lawyers who had recently pivoted toward horticulture. “We talked plants to avoid talking play dates,” says Henrietta. “In 2012 we decided to start a business based on a shared philosophy—to create gardens that

PHOTOS BY CLIVE NICHOLS (MOOD BOARD AND BOOK JACKET) AND CLAIRE RICHARDSON (PORTRAIT AND ABOVE)

By Kirk Reed Forrester

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: The mood board in Elworthy and

PHOTOS BY CLIVE NICHOLS (MOOD BOARD AND BOOK JACKET) AND CLAIRE RICHARDSON (PORTRAIT AND ABOVE)

Courtauld’s studio • On a London roof terrace, ‘Thomas Edison’ dahlias grow in zinc pots. • A pitcher of pale-pink shrub roses gets a shock of color from the vermilion hybrid tea rose ‘Alexander.’ • Elworthy (left) and Courtauld among buckets of their blooms OPPOSITE: Roses ready for a Land Gardeners teaching workshop.

were alive and productive that you could gather from.” They named their firm The Land Gardeners in homage to the Land Girls of Britain, the army of women who worked the fields in World Wars I and II to keep England’s farms running.

Courtauld and Elworthy specialize in reinvigorating historic gardens, but in 2012 they realized they needed a laboratory where they could tinker with soil and plant varieties. In 2009 Elworthy had moved with her husband, and three young children into Wardington Manor, a grand home built in the 15th century. The gardens were abundant but neglected.

In an impulsive moment, the women decided to use them as their template, growing cut flowers in combinations they could replicate in other projects. Wardington’s bounty became another arm of the business, providing billowing, fresh blooms for London’s discriminating florists and clients.

Whether it’s with cut flowers at Wardington or exuberantly designed gardens around the world, the goal is to create spaces that hum with life. “For us, a garden should be about atmosphere,” says Elworthy. “When it’s in balance, when the soil is right, there are sights, smells, insects, and birds.

The garden is productive.”

Lucky for us, the two are out with a new book, The Land Gardeners Cut Flowers (Thames & Hudson, 2020), a guide through the cycle of a year in the Wardington gardens. In deliriously beautiful images coupled with practical advice, it offers a blueprint for achieving the symbiotic dance with nature that’s brought them such rich rewards. In this time of uncertainty and anxiety in which we find ourselves, nature is indeed a balm. “Flowers are so joyful and giving and generous,” says Courtauld. “You just marvel.”

For more information, see Sources, page 86

in Bloom JEWELRY

Humble to Haute FINE JEWELRY DESIGNER ANABELA CHAN REIMAGES THE EVERYDAY, PAIRING RECYCLED ALUMINUM WITH 18-KARAT GOLD VERMEIL AND SIMULATED GEMSTONES

By Alice Welsh Doyle

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o understand how London jewelry designer Anabela Chan takes aluminum cans and transforms them into elegant, fanciful floral jewelry, you may need a master’s degree in chemistry. As she explains, “The challenge of using recycled aluminum is the impurities in the metal that can result in an uneven texture and tiny pores in the surface of the finished piece.” Through trial and error, and after two-and-a-half years of experimentation, Chan’s team found a solution by refining the aluminum, which also allowed for greater color intensity and iridescent tones. Once the aluminum is refined, the process is the same as working with precious metals. The Blooms collection, the first fine jewelry collection using recycled aluminum, debuted this year.

The designer studied goldsmithing, silversmithing, metalwork, and jewelery at The Royal Academy of Arts, and The Gemmological Association of Great Britain

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sponsored her diamond-grading training. She worked for architect Lord Richard Rogers and design house Alexander McQueen before launching her eponymous label in 2013 (she now has a boutique in Piccadilly Circus). Her collections were well received, garnering awards from the fashion and design communities. While at The Royal Academy of Arts, a classmate alerted Chan to the conditions in gemstone mines. On her honeymoon, she visited a mine in Sri Lanka and saw for herself. “I was shocked and saddened to see the working conditions of the mine, the risks and the inequality of the excavation of such precious things,” says Chan. “There was nothing romantic and beautiful about it.”

That visit was a turning point for the designer, who began to explore alternatives to natural gemstones. She champions laboratory-grown stones while still maintaining thoughtful design and meticulous craftsmanship.

The simulated gemstones give nothing away. As Chan says, “I never think that it is a competition between the two genres, but rather offering a different perspective and option to the consumer, a more accessible and mindful alternative.” anabelachan.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANABELA CHAN

ABOVE: Anabela Chan with a taxidermy macaw she has used as a model in her art LEFT: (top) Rose Bloom earring in rose aluminum, hand-painted with black enamel, and Blush Bloom earring in blush aluminum with yellow enamel. (bottom) Rose Magnolia earrings in blush and champagne aluminum BELOW: Rainbow Magnolia earring in rainbow aluminum with detachable flower stud. All jewelry features simulated gemstones.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANABELA CHAN

PLANTSVILLE PINES

When a garden is built on hopes and dreams, there are no limits

By TOVAH MARTIN Photography by KINDRA CLINEFF

The trouble-free antique rambler rose ‘Super Excelsa’ was the perfect athlete to send scrambling over the archways at Plantsville Pines.

OPPOSITE: Equally robust climber ‘Super Dorothy’ joins the darker, slightly larger ‘Super Excelsa’ for a long, lush display.

THE SUN TAKES ITS TIME CLIMBING ABOVE THE CONIFERS THAT JOIN LIMBS TO ENCLOSE PLANTSVILLE PINES. But even before the sparkle illuminates a labyrinth of blossoms lapping at walkways and arbors plumped with vines, this garden has a surreal quality. Hidden in a no-nonsense industrial Connecticut town, this is the landscape that happened when two dedicated gardeners dug in and built from their heart on a shoestring. Never for a moment did George Anthony Jones and Dean Delgiudice doubt that making their own paradise was possible, and it shows.

Jones and Delgiudice are driven by dreams and propelled by a mutual thirst for beauty. Not incidentally, they both have a strict work ethic.

Even when Jones was working full time in computer technology and Delgiudice in teaching, they always dove into the gardens when home.

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The 3 acres of land given to the couple by Delgiudice’s family were deeply appreciated, so the couple plunged headlong into making it home in 2002 and have never paused with their dizzying agenda of projects. While personally building the house (Jones earned his chops from his contractor father), they laid the framework for the landscape and tucked in the first plants. To say that they planted the garden doesn’t really capture the depth of the initiative. The pair propagated the plants from seeds and cuttings to layer in the lushness they envisioned. But this isn’t about blood, sweat, and tears. This is the saga of love, sweat, and no fear.

The fact that Jones gleans his ideas from reading books is telling because his tastes are purely European. His vision was a series of cottage gardens joined by seductive rose-entwined arches that feel both mazelike and secret garden– esque. Plantsville Pines welcomes visitors with an entry drive accompanied by a sweep of flowers that run like rivulets in colors that proclaim summer but are simultaneously soothing. Even

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE LEFT: Jones

found Athena at the Brimfield Antique Show and gave her a commanding position overlooking the parterre garden. • A bench on the cross-axis in the parterre garden is bowered in clematis ‘Jackmanii.’ • The parterre garden leads into a sunken garden where an urn spills over with succulents.

• Spruce, chamaecyparis, and arborvitae serve as a backdrop for the gardens.

OPPOSITE: When Jones’s grandmother gave him a fountain, he built a room for its setting in her honor.

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before they were given the land, Jones always saw in his future a parterre with flowers hemmed by clipped boxwood. He made all that happen and more.

It took considerable savvy. Although many gardeners look back on missed opportunities and sigh, Jones and Delgiudice took smart advantage when options presented themselves. For starters, when the heavy equipment had just finished digging the foundation for their house and earth movers were still on the premises, they asked if the machines could dig holes for 300 pines to surround their land. As a result, they had the parameters laid out for their landscape in no time. Now, the mature pines stand tall and broad as the optical illusion that establishes the sense of slipping into another reality.

Simultaneously, Jones was tucking in plants salvaged from his previous garden. Although a couple of years had intervened while the couple was in limbo between homes, Jones had spread plants among friends to transplant to their new home. The initial garden was a rather loud shout-out to the joy of independence and was also a testimony to what could be rallied quickly. “The driveway border was all purple and yellow,” Jones recalls of his original somewhat garish fillers. His vision was a big wave of massed color, but it was initially dependent on whatever he could germinate from seed in a blink. The result was 400 echinaceas and rudbeckias greeting friends when they first drove in. Meanwhile, he had purchased 400 tiny boxwood starters at Home Depot to put in his parterre

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Pines and arborvitae form a tall hedge to screen and define the property. ABOVE: Jones “combined all the rust” to perch whimsical bird sculptures on top of a weathered sundial. LEFT: A weeping Atlas cedar drapes over the entry to the parterre garden.

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“TO PREVENT THE GARDEN FROM READING LIKE A FREE-FOR-ALL, IT’S TIED TOGETHER WITH REPEATING PATTERNS AND COLORS.” —GEORGE ANTHONY JONES

For more information, see Sources, page 86

LEFT: The sunken garden

stretches beside a corkscrew willow that shades the dining table.

ABOVE: An urn dense with plectranthus and Persian shield completes the corner, playing off a bed of ‘Blue Billow’ hydrangea.

RIGHT: Potted plants filled with low-maintenance succulents like senecio accent the sunken garden and weave into the scene.

while frantically rooting cuttings to increase that quantity.

The first flowers to fill in between the boxwoods in the parterre were white marigolds—another plant Jones could easily produce rapidly from seed.

Time and resources allowed the couple to hone their style.

They found fountains and hoops to form arbors inexpensively but pulled them apart and rebuilt them to suit their taste. In place of the marigolds, perennial drought- and pest-resistant sedum ‘Matrona’ now fills in the parterre between boxwoods.

Added elements tame the borders, though repetition remains their strong suit. Now, foxgloves, salvias, Shasta daisies, lilies, daylilies, and balloon flowers knit them together with spiraea to form a leitmotif. But the main show occurs when the sweet Williams burst into midseason blossom. Propagated by seeds collected from Jones’s mother’s garden, they are a meticulously selected combination of colors that merge beautifully in concert. Every year, Jones plants new seeds just in case his biennials fizzle.

Everything about this garden is magic. From the arbors bowered in heirloom roses propagated by Delgiudice to walkways where silene, ageratum, and other self-seeders instill a sense of endless lushness, this is a place where you sink deep into every step. There would be a grandeur about the garden, but the couple is so down-to-earth, it just dazzles rather than daunts. Now, Plantsville Pines is the epitome of everyone’s dreams.

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At regular intervals, in the rooms created by the archways and conifers, benches offer a place to sit, chat, and enjoy the garden.

Feverfew and silene line the walkways.

EXTENDING THE BLOOM WHEN MOST GARDENS are in a lull, that’s when Plantsville Pines steps into prime time.

Although spring has its charms, the gardens reach their zenith in July. Jones’s affinity for the sweet William that his mother once grew as a cut flower is part of the wave steering that time slot.

He became so fond of that midseason performer that he still starts seeds every year to add to the bounty already planted.

Coinciding with the rush of sweet William are daylilies, ageratum, and annual rudbeckias. Other annuals raised from seed also join in the chorus, as well as salvias such as ‘Wendy’s Wish’ and ‘Amistad’ that were purchased as small plants. Cuttings of plectranthus fill in the beds. The fact that climbing roses enter the picture later than bush types also plays to the scene’s favor.

But Jones’s goal has been to prolong the show even further, and he does that with echinaceas, daisies, sedums, and the silene that self-sows everywhere to lend the garden its rambunctious mood.

Hydrangeas line the walkways.

And after the roses finish their performance, the intertwined autumn clematis has its day.

“It’s a bear to wrestle the clematis from the roses in spring,” warns Delgiudice who painfully prunes the clematis to 4 feet, “but it’s worth it.”

Containers filled with succulents also fill in and punctuate the scene. With planning, the display is sustained robustly until autumn.

Beyond that, thanks to the conifers, this landscape is evocative throughout the year.

in Harmony with Nature

When LORIE AND GAVIN DUKE purchased this 1920s house in Nashville, they drew upon Gavin’s expertise in landscape architecture and Lorie’s flair for decorating to create a familyfriendly home that blurs the boundaries between indoors and out

By KAREN CARROLL Photography by LAUREY W. GLENN

LEFT AND OPPOSITE: On a

n

skirted table in the entry, peonies fill a bowl from the couple’s collection of blue-and-white porcelain. Whether clipped from their cutting garden or procured from friends at The Tulip Tree in Nashville (as the ones in this story were), “I always have to have fresh flowers in the house,” says Lorie. “They instantly make me happy.” BELOW: A peacock-blue cut velvet by Schumacher wraps the powder room pedestal sink. PREVIOUS PAGES: Both the interior and the garden speak of a love for texture and light, accented with bursts of color.

NOT LONG AFTER A STORY on Lorie and Gavin Duke’s former Nashville home appeared on a lifestyle website, they received a note in their mailbox with the proverbial offer they couldn’t refuse. With no plan in place for their next move, serendipity stepped in when days later they attended a charity event and struck up a conversation with a couple they’d met for the first time at the dinner table.

“We mentioned that we were about to be temporarily homeless,” remembers Gavin, “and they replied they might have the perfect house for us—theirs.” The new acquaintances invited the Dukes over for a tour and a glass of wine, and as they wandered through the rooms and yard, Gavin and Lorie saw the potential to make it the right fit for their family. Soon they tendered an offer of their own.

The 1925 Cotswolds-style house nestles on a one-and-a-half-acre lot in the neighborhood of Belle Meade, a leafy haven of stately houses with expansive green lawns and impeccably manicured gardens. Some of those gardens happen to be designed by Gavin himself, who as a partner in Page|Duke Landscape

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ABOVE: A living room vignette illustrates Lorie’s fondness for texture

and combining old with contemporary. A vintage Lucite lamp sits atop an antique French chest; the painting is by Nashville artist Craig Greene.

RIGHT: “I have an addiction to pillows and love a mix of silks, mohairs, and velvets,” she says. When she found a pair in Scalamandré’s Tigre fabric, she vowed to build the living room around them. A pair of LEE Industries sofas flank the fireplace. The painting above the mantel was a housewarming present.

Architects, shapes the land for clients not only a stone’s throw from his own backyard, but also all across the South.

Whether working on a landscape design for a contemporary house or a historic one, he roots his approach in classicism, always adapting for the built environment and maintaining that the garden should reflect what’s going on with both the architecture and the interiors.

“Gavin and I have an agreement—he obviously drives what happens outside, and I take the lead on the inside,” says Lorie.

Although not a designer by trade, she works in sales and marketing at G & G Interiors and frequently chairs stylish affairs for philanthropic organizations, such as the Antiques & Garden Show preview party and the Nashville Symphony fashion show. Describing her look as classic with a modern twist, she cites influences that include Slim Aarons, Audrey Hepburn,

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CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Gavin has long loved English gardens,

traveling the Cotswolds for professional inspiration, so it was no surprise he was taken with the exterior of this 1920s house. • Pink oak-leaf hydrangea pops against a backdrop of textural greens. • Many of the mature boxwoods came with the house; others were transplanted from gardens undergoing renovation.

• Gavin, Lorie, Poppy, and Gabe, one of the family’s two Brittany spaniels. OPPOSITE, TOP TO BOTTOM: The south terrace features Gavin’s collection of antique metal spring chairs. • The stone table on a lower terrace serves as a bar for entertaining.

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and Jackie Kennedy, along with a “love for anything from the ’60s and ’70s.”

Fortunately for this couple, who often finish each other’s sentences even when they sometimes playfully disagree, their aesthetic partnership works as well as their personal one, resulting in a seamless blend of indoors and out. “The house has patina, with edges that have been knocked off over time. It feels comfortable, as if you’re going to somebody’s grandmother’s house,” says Gavin.

“Oh no, it’s far from grandmother’s house,” Lorie counters, with a laugh. “But houses with great bones like this one embrace you in a way that new construction can rarely do.” Just as Gavin layers the garden with flowering plants against an architectural structure of evergreen hedges and a collection of mature boxwoods, Lorie uses a mostly light and airy backdrop for a medley of textures with accents of color and pattern. Pieces that she has had custommade mingle alongside contemporary finds and antiques both inherited and collected.

Gavin acknowledges that the house and its garden

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“When I discovered that this green mohair chair by Oly was named the Poppy chair, I knew I had to design our daughter’s bedroom around it. —Lorie Duke

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: A feather light fixture bought from Architectural Heritage in Birmingham, Alabama, adds

lighthearted flair to the serene master suite. • The wing chairs were purchased from the owners of their previous house and re-covered in light-blue silk. “They traveled from the old house to this one and will probably go on to the next, but hopefully not anytime soon,” says Lorie. • She converted a guest room into a dressing room, “where all my pretties live,” she says.

OPPOSITE: Poppy’s bedroom, a cheery mix of pink and green, is sophisticated enough to grow up along with her.

often serve, in essence, as a living billboard for his professional work. “A plain white box with a couple of boxwoods in front wouldn’t sell or tell as much about our firm as a house with character and a landscape that speaks the same language,” he says.

Lorie adds, “What we love most of all is when our friends say our house wins the comfort award and that it’s elegant and relaxed at the same time. That means we’ve achieved what we set out do.”

When their daughter, Poppy, who Gavin describes as “11 going on 18,” wants to spend special time with her dad, she heads to their favorite spot, a seating area beneath a shady umbrella on a side terrace. “We’ve always had a thing where she’ll come and say, ‘Hey, let’s go to the talking chairs,’ ” referring to the 1920s metal spring chairs he collects. “That’s where we share a bit of our day and check in.” And ultimately that’s the best kind of offer, and one he’ll surely never refuse.

For more information, see Sources, page 86

JESTY OF THE MA

VE GARDEN O R G H S HIG Tucked into the picturesque Cotswolds countryside, the home of Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, sits surrounded by gardens, wispy meadows, marching allĂŠes, and ancient walls with fragrant climbing roses

By MARION LAFFEY FOX

PHOTOS BY GAP PHOTOS/HIGHGROVE/A. LAWSON (LEFT) AND TK (RIGHT)

The Meadow is a vision of wildflowers, bulbs, and grasses while purple and white wisteria on the house blend together in a pale violet mantle.

OPPOSITE: The Thyme Walk features a fanciful procession of clipped golden yews and scented thyme mounds underfoot.

T

The overwhelming experience of Highgrove exudes a sense that its inhabitants cherish every nook and cranny on the property.

Elegantly set in Gloucestershire’s gentle landscape, where stone villages were once home to a thriving wool trade, the 340acre estate featuring 15 acres of gardens generously welcomes visitors. Explaining his love affair with the house in a short film that precedes every guided tour, Prince Charles describes the circumstances of his acquisition of a rather dilapidated property in 1980. “I felt passionate about it,” he said of the 18thcentury house and sweeping grounds. “I felt I could work with nature, not against her, and make as little impact on the environment as possible. They say gardening is reflective of a person’s soul, and that is a wonderful way to think about it.”

Landscape architect and historian John Phibbs, MBE, commented that in retrospect, the condition of the estate was actually advantageous to the prince’s ambitious horticultural intent. “Because it had been

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TOP: Encircled by a precisely pruned yew hedge, the Sundial Garden features architectural elements and structural planting.

ABOVE: The Goddess of the Woods statue in the Stumpery

neglected for so many years and was a blank canvas with virtually no garden or trees, it created a wonderful opportunity for Prince Charles to give expression to his longing to create a garden completely personal to his own tastes and release his particular talents in this way.”

As lucky visitors soon learn, during a subsequent guide-escorted ramble around the property, Highgrove’s delights evolve in a seemingly endless series of enchanting and often surprising vignettes that unravel like a beautiful ribbon through gates, along streams, and beneath canopies of mighty trees. After entering the first pair of carved Indian door panels that were a gift from his brother-inlaw, Mark Shand, many guests confess to feeling an overwhelming sense of anticipation that borders on giddiness for what is to come.

Among the subsequent surprises, the Thyme Walk offers visual and sensory

PHOTOS BY DAVID WYNNE (GODDESS); GAP PHOTOS/HIGHGROVE/ROBERT SMITH (TOP RIGHT AND GREEN ARCH); AND GAP PHOTOS/HIGHGROVE/A. BUTLER

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE LEFT: The Lily Pool Garden has a raised, crossshaped feature from which flowing water produces a soothing trickling sound. • A lush clematis overhangs the entrance to the serene Azalea Walk, inspired by a visit to Villa Gamberaia in Tuscany. Cohesive and bold, this garden showcases gold, pink, and yellow highly scented varieties. • The Wall of Gifts is a cleverly assembled display of carved stone gifts to Prince Charles mostly from students. • The painted green arch and chair distinguish the entrance to the small "pepper pot" stone structure where His Royal Highness can write in total privacy.

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PHOTOS BY GAP PHOTOS/HIGHGROVE/A. LAWSON (LEFT); GAP PHOTOS/HIGHGROVE (PORTRAIT); AND GAP PHOTOS/HIGHGROVE/ROBERT SMITH

The spectacular yew hedge around the Sundial Garden is cut between August and November to look crisp in winter. The strong shapes of balls, alcoves, piers, swoops, and swags add memorable definition to this garden. RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM: Prince Charles in the colorful Kitchen Garden, which reflects his passion for organic gardening and is enclosed by 18thcentury brick walls. • Oversize Italian urns are placed liberally around the property, adding dollops of color to the greenery.

• The Stumpery is a mysterious, otherworldly enclave of ferns, hostas, and other shade plants.

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE LEFT: A life-size bronze

experiences that radiate from the fragrant crunch of thyme underfoot to the eccentric and curious shapes of the manicured golden yews and block-like pleached hornbeams that line the path.

In contrast, the Kitchen Garden is a charming, contained space, where old walls are covered in espaliered fruit trees; seasonal flowers create pops of color; and heavily scented blooms perfume the air. Bisected by a metal tunnel that supports apple trees, this space is a fairyland of pink blossoms in spring, while yielding bounteous harvests of produce and vegetables in the fall. Beyond, the four-acre Wildflower Meadow is a veritable haze of bobbing heads and swaying grasses, while the famous Stumpery imitates the Victorian practice of planting ferns and shade plants in and among petrified tree stumps.

Elsewhere, the Cottage Garden, Arboretum, amusing topiaries, and collection of hostas are inspiring in their own ways. Brightly painted garden gates lead to other special pausing places, including an area where the prince has installed a wall sculpture of his grandmother, the late Queen Mother, whom he adored. And in a secluded, dappled spot tucked under the limb of a gigantic tree, there is a wooden likeness of Charles and Camilla.

If it is apparent that Prince Charles has poured heart and soul into transforming the property into his own special sanctuary, it comes off as a lighthearted and joyous frolic with Mother Nature. The purely organic and self-sustaining spot that beckons insects and birds to come and stay has now become their paradise.

As for visitors, it’s a sure bet that most will plan to return, compelled to see the shimmer and shine of this magical place in every season.

May and June 2020 tours have been canceled.

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copy of The Gladiator dominates a corner of the Lily Pool Garden. • The Moroccan-themed Carpet Garden is a tile-festooned extravaganza for which Prince Charles received the coveted Silver-Gilt Medal at the 2001 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. • Italian pots brimming with hydrangeas flank an entrance to the Sundial Garden. • The Terrace Garden near the ivy-covered back of the house is a colorful affair centered around an octagonal pool with a fountain.

PHOTOS BY GAP PHOTOS/HIGHGROVE/A. LAWSON (TOP LEFT) AND GAP PHOTOS/HIGHGROVE/A. BUTLER

EXPERIENCE THE COTSWOLDS The Cotswolds district in West Central England is blessed with an embarrassment of riches, including perfectly preserved stone villages that literally stop you in your tracks.

Among dozens of pausing places, glorious Bath, with its harmonious crescents of elegant Georgian buildings, should not be missed.

Charming Tetbury, a stone’s throw from Highgrove, is a definite must-see.

The Close, in the market town’s center, features 20 beautifully appointed bedrooms in a sophisticated town house. Dine inside or out at The Bar at The Close, or book the more formal Garden Room Restaurant.

Ten minutes from Highgrove, The Hare & Hounds, an old Cotswolds manor, offers freshly decorated rooms. Jack Hare’s Bar has seating around the fire, and The Beaufort Restaurant is all about fine cuisine.

Three miles from Tetbury, Westonbirt, the National Arboretum is worth a stop.

Home to 15,000 specimen trees from everywhere, it features the unforgettable Stihl Tree Top Walkway, along with walking trails and a café.

Other touring places include the town of Stow-on-the-Wold, a leading center for antiques shopping, where you'll find furniture, art, silver, tole, and treen, as well as unusual decorative elements like old pub and shop signs.

Bourton-on-the-Water is another beauty, home to The Cotswold Motoring Museum & Toy Collection, housed in an old mill.

Tiny Bibury, dubbed Britain’s most beautiful village by Arts & Crafts designer William Morris, is a vision of picturesque cottages and the remains of a wall of an important Roman villa.

Six miles southwest, Cirencester has been a hub since Roman times. Visit the Corinium Museum of Roman artifacts and the Church of St. John the Baptist, with mounted coats of arms. But the real bonus is to repose in luxury at Barnsley House, former home of famed garden designer Rosemary Verey, a close friend of Prince Charles, who assisted him with Highgrove’s gardens. Staying in the romantic 18-room hostelry, where the two friends frequently met in Verey’s stunning 11-acre garden, is the perfect way to cap any Highgrove ramble.

For more information, see Sources, page 86.

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To create a vibrant home and lifestyle for her family, Australian designer CHARLOTTE COOTE remade a house steeped in childhood memories into a place filled with nostalgia and wonder

By CATHY STILL MCGOWIN Photography by LISA COHEN/LIVING INSIDE

A pair of armchairs covered in a sagegreen check anchors one end of the living room. Branches from the centuries-old horse chestnut tree adorn the mantel. OPPOSITE: Charlotte designed the Irish- and Georgianinspired console in the entry. A vase holds rhodendron branches cut from the garden.

TOP: In the sitting room, Charlotte kept the original paneling and lightened up the spaces with paint and neutral furnishings. A prized console table she designed with her father resides in the bay window.

ABOVE AND RIGHT: The family spend as much time as they can in the gardens. “The flow of the garden is magical; it takes about 35 minutes to walk a proper ‘lap’ of the entire property,” Charlotte says.

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Charlotte found the painted cane-back chairs at auction. Beech branches fill a vase on the kitchen island. BELOW: Prized antiques from her father’s Irish estate become less serious when mixed with contemporary finds such as a ceramic cactus and Slim Aarons photograph.

JUST THE IDEA OF AUSTRALIA

evokes romantic notions and exotic landscapes. For interior designer Charlotte Coote and her family, the extraordinariness of it all is simply a way of life. Their home, an 1890 weatherboard house and 16-acre garden in Mount Macedon, Victoria, christened Marnanie, is a place that stirs Charlotte’s creative energies and allows her, husband Geordie Taylor, and their three daughters plenty of room to let their imaginations run wild. “They run up into the garden and mountain woodlands for hours on end,” Charlotte says. “Growing up in the countryside gives them a real sense of freedom and fosters a curiosity that I love.”

One of the country’s most famous garden regions, Mount Macedon was established in the early 18th century by Melbourne society as a way to escape the summer heat. Homes are grand and the gardens surrounding them vast. In season, house parties, picnics, and lawn games were (and still are) regular events and coveted invitations.

Charlotte’s roots here run deep. She and her family grew up next door and were regular guests of the owners, celebrated floral designers Kevin O’Neill and John Graham. “I remember my parents going over to Marnanie for parties when my brother and sister and I were little. Once, the three of us slept on a pallet under the giant horse chestnut tree out front while a lively dinner party went on inside,” Charlotte recalls.

These fond memories would follow Charlotte throughout her life, even as her father, the late interior designer John Coote, moved his family to the United States, then Ireland. Years later, after her return to Melbourne, she learned that Marnanie was available for purchase.

ABOVE AND RIGHT: Charlotte and Geordie’s three daughters,

Daphne (3), Francesca (5), and Sybil (6), wander the garden paths and romp through the house. Their favorite indoor play space is the Blue Room. Here, they use the Charlottedesigned ottoman as a performance stage and tumble across the trio of sofas. A pair of oars, hard won from Charlotte’s competitive rowing days as a student, hang from the ceiling.

When she and Geordie visited the property as potential owners, the house, gardens, and outlying structures showed signs of wear and neglect. But Charlotte was quick to recall what Marnanie once was and what it could be again. “Structurally it was fine, but we had to retouch every surface,” she says.

“It was a little sad and dark place, but it still had a wonderful feeling.”

Established in the 19th century, the gardens are filled with old-growth trees and blooming perennials. The landscape features a spring-fed stream, moss-covered paths, and steps that lead to various garden follies and the greenhouse, fountains, swimming pool, and tennis courts. “I love most how we get four distinct seasons here,” says Charlotte.

“Pool-worthy summers, breathtaking tree color in autumn, beautiful sheets of snow in winter, and life again in spring bursting with bulbs, birds, and bees. Our garden is beautiful, and we really do roam all corners of it for lunches, parties, and playing with the girls and our Labrador Retriever, Bobby.”

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Focusing on bringing the colors of the gardens into the house, the designer devised an interior scheme that included neutral footings and colorful offshoots.

“People may think it’s bold or random that I have a rhododendron-pink dining room, or a cyan-blue and garden-green master bedroom, but I tell them to look out the window. Even in the middle of winter, the garden is teeming with color and interest.”

Charlotte is equally adept at blending antiques, fabulous finds, and bespoke pieces. “I think it’s important not to try too hard. If you concentrate on things that have meaning and beauty for you, then you will undoubtedly end up with an interesting interior,” she says. “Authenticity is important to me. I love that my home will not look like anyone else’s.”

Some of her most favorite pieces include custom collaborations with her father and inherited antiques from his estate in Ireland. “After my father died, my brother, sister, and I packed up his house. We didn’t want any arguments about who ended up with what, so we fell back on the very trustworthy law of Rock-Paper- Scissors.

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: The pool is a welcome respite after

working in the garden. • “When we entertain, the bold pink brings out the best in guests,” says Charlotte. • Jurassic-size tree ferns and foliage belie the size of the glass house—a vast greenhouse built by the former owners for their floral business.

OPPOSITE: “At the start, I told the painters to paint just above the dado rail, then below it as well. One night I decided the ceiling needed to be pink too, so I stayed up painting until 3 a.m.,” says the designer. Chairs are covered in a Pierre Frey fabric.

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ABOVE AND OPPOSITE:

The girls’ rooms showcase azalea-pink color schemes.

Charlotte designed the four-poster beds and added a toile accent fabric (Kathryn M Ireland Storybook toile in Pink) on the canopies and headboards. ABOVE RIGHT: Dogwood branches add a spot of color to the black-and-white Arabescato marble bath. RIGHT: In the master bedroom, blues and greens are front and center on the walls and upholstery. The pineapple lamps on the bedside tables are Charlotte’s design.

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We only had to use this once, when my sister and I both wanted a beautiful silver shell champagne bucket of my father’s. She won, but I love seeing it at her home.”

Charlotte and her father designed the white painted console that sits in the bay window in the sitting room. His breakfast table, butcher block, and copper pots take pride of place in the kitchen. Elsewhere, Charlotte designed other pieces just for Marnanie: a second console in the foyer, a graphic blue-and-white rug, an ottoman in the Blue Room, and the dazzling copper and Italian crystal palm chandelier in the dining room.

Indeed, there are a lot of head-turning surprises at Marnanie, inside and out, thanks to Charlotte’s desire to have a lively, happy home and the couple’s commitment to reviving the gardens. This fall, Charlotte plans to host a master class on design so she can share the beauty of Marnanie with others. In the meantime, the designer and her family will continue exploring the wonders of their Australian playground.

To find out more about Charlotte’s personal style and favorite resources, go to flowermag.com.

For more information, see Sources, page 86

Overlooking the crashing ocean, The Whim enjoys flashing sunsets and golden dawns, reposing in gardens of wisteria, hydrangeas, ‘Concodor’ lilies, and roses.

OPPOSITE: Glamorous Oatsie Charles dressed in veiled hat and gloves at postwar Ascot races

the Wit the Whim of

Oatsie Charles Set on a spit of Atlantic-lapped land, the celebrated socialite and philanthropist’s famous house welcomes back her daughter and family to continue their tradition of Newport summering

By MARION LAFFEY FOX Photography by MICK HALES AND NICK MELE

A

A special Newport, Rhode Island, house named The Whim will happily come full circle when Victoria Mele moves back and calls it home after almost 50 years. “I came to this property when I was 2 years old,” says Victoria. That was in 1952, when her mother, prominent Washington socialite Marion “Oatsie” Leiter Charles, bought the famous estate called Land’s End. It consisted of a main house, a gardener’s cottage, an eight-car garage, a greenhouse, and vestiges of previous owner Edith Wharton’s gardens.

Designed by architect John Hubbard Sturgis in the 1860s for Samuel C. Ward, brother of writer and activist Julia Ward Howe, the sprawling shingled house on 8.5 oceanfront acres was purchased in the 1890s by Edith Wharton,

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who worked with architect and interior decorator Ogden Codman to remodel it and create the magnificent gardens. It was here that the two began writing Wharton’s famous treatise, The Decoration of Houses.

The property passed through several owners before Oatsie and her first husband, Thomas Leiter, bought Land’s End as an escape from the Bar Harbor scene, where “everybody went off on boats and there was no one to talk to,” said Oatsie.

Once in Newport, Oatsie plunged into the lively social scene, and by the time the couple divorced in 1954, she was a fixture in the glamorous summer colony. In 1957, after she sold Land’s End to prominent Philadelphian George Widener, she and Victoria moved into the gardener’s cottage. Eleven years later, she connected the tiny cottage she named The Whim with the cavernous garage, creating a charming complex with two libraries, entertaining spaces, and seven bedrooms. A year later, in 1969, Oatsie married Bob Charles, assistant secretary of the Air Force, and they became one of Newport’s most popular couples. After

ABOVE: Ivy-covered

walls topped with Oatsie’s favorite bunny sculptures were once foundations of a greenhouse. The heron sculpture by Walter Matia preens in a tousled grass bed of Nassella tenuissima.

OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Oatsie,

who adored holding court in her libraries, surrounded by favorite books • A yellow-silk French settee is piled with Oatsie’s collection of hats. • The front hall, lined with Chinese tapestries, leads to the living room.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A

lacquered Chinese secretary displays objets and curios. • ‘Queen Elizabeth’ roses • The Eagle Border, dominated by a showy pink horse chestnut tree, also features Hinoki cypress, irises, and peonies.

Across the field, the fanciful folly Oatsie named The Temple of Doom completes the dreamy scene, where her two grandsons, Nick Mele and Desmond Butler, were both married. • A workroom stores fresh peonies, astilbes, and lilies to be arranged for a dinner party. • Bookshelves filled with family photographs and ceramics • Oatsie said the sculpture of dancing frogs was Wiggy Brown, her gardener, dancing with her on the wall. OPPOSITE, TOP: The garden shed shows off a romantic caplet of ‘Evangeline' roses. OPPOSITE, BOTTOM: Oatsie holds 6-month-old Victoria on her christening day in 1950.

parties at night, her days were dominated by philanthropy. She was one of the founders of the Newport Flower Show and Newport’s Secret Garden Tours; was a patroness of The Preservation Society of Newport County, and was original trustee of Doris Duke’s Newport Restoration Foundation.

“At home, she put flower beds and sculpture in the original foundations of Wharton’s greenhouse that blew down in Hurricane Carol in 1954, and she designed steps down to lower gardens that united the scheme in a major way,” says horticulturist Jerica Michaud, who oversees the gardens. “I never saw her on her hands and knees, but she knew what she wanted and had talented help like Wiggy Brown, of the local landscaping family T. J. Brown, who was always wandering around. Eventually, the gardens had a little bit of everything, because she liked unusual plants.”

If summers overlooking the tempestuous Atlantic were exciting and fun, Washington’s whirlwind dominated her winters. A lifelong Democrat, she frequently said that she “would rather party with the Republicans.” So it was not surprising that when Nancy and Ronald Reagan arrived in town in 1980, Oatsie was one of the first to welcome Nancy. In fact, the two enjoyed a lifelong friendship she described as “love at first sight!”

Prince Charles enjoyed regaling her with plans for the gardens of Highgrove, after she had greeted him saying, “Prince Charles, you are one hell of a prince!”

Ian Fleming was also a great friend and was grateful to Oatsie for telling JFK that she was currently reading one of his books. When Kennedy later named Fleming his favorite author in a Life magazine interview, the writer’s work shot to the top of every best-seller list, and his James Bond movies became blockbuster hits.

“She was a wonderful mother. Never boring. Wherever we went anywhere in the world, she knew somebody. She often said to me, ‘You know people other people only read about in books,” Victoria recalls. “Although we lived in Land’s End next to Mother for many years, we are so happy to be returning to The Whim, where my mother’s gardens will remain exactly as she envisioned and memories of her linger in every corner of the property.”

“She had a biting wit.

And her confidence! She once told me when she entered a room, she assumed everyone was thrilled to see her. And they were! What she also taught me was, it was not about how much money you had but whether you were interesting.”

–NICK MELE, OATSIE'S GRANDSON

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Sources Prices are subject to change.

Any items not listed are unknown.

IN BLOOM

PAGES 19–22, ENTERTAIN: Event design, Rebecca Gardner of Houses and Parties, rebecca-gardner.com. PAGES 28–30, DECORATE: FLOWERS: Floral design, Kristen Caissie of Moon Canyon, mooncanyondesign.com; book, Gathering: Setting the Natural Table by Kristen Caissie and Jessica Hundley (Rizzoli New York, 2020), $45, barnesandnoble.com; location, Bodega Los Alamos, bodegalosalamos.com; ceramics, Michelle Blade, michelleblade.com.

PAGES 32–36, DECORATE: Q&A: Interior design, Denise McGaha of Denise McGaha Interiors, denisemcgaha.com. BEDROOM: Bed, Alexa Hampton for Theodore Alexander, theodore alexander.com, upholstered in Schumacher Bagan in Peacock fabric, fschumacher.com; Collins nightstand, Michael Berman for Theodore Alexander; Sabella table lamp by Currey & Company, curreyandcompany.com; carpet, Moya in Platinum from Truett Carpet & Rugs, truettfinecarpetsandrugsdallas.com; custom lampshade by Cele Johnson, 214.651.1645, in Brunschwig & Fils Les Touches fabric in Green, brunschwig.com; bedding, Peacock Alley, peacockalley.com; Crown Top Banded Globe lantern, Circa Lighting, circa lighting.com; drapery fabric, Peacock in Emerald from Schumacher; dresser, Theodore Alexander.

BATHROOM: Wallpaper, Cole & Son Frutto Proibito in Hyacinth & Orange, cole-and-son.com; towels and shower curtain, Matouk, matouk.com; cabinet hardware, Addison Weeks, addison weeks.com; faucet, Delta, deltafaucet.com; bath light, Circa Lighting. PAGES 38–39, GARDEN: Floral design, Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy of The Land Gardeners, thelandgardeners.com; book, The Land Gardeners Cut Flowers by Bridget Elworthy and Henrietta Courtauld (Thames & Hudson, 2020), $60, barnesandnoble.com. PAGE 40, JEWELRY: Fine jewelry design, Anabela Chan, anabelachan.com.

Who Did It & Where to Get It

ROOM: Sink skirt fabric, Pavone Velvet, by Schumacher. LIVING ROOM: Sofas, LEE Industries, leeindustries.com; iron coffee table, Robin Rains, robinrains.com; animal-print pillows, Tigre by Scalamandré, scalamandre .com; drapery fabric, silk taffeta in Smoke by Schumacher; antique chest and antique mirror, Artifacts; vintage Lucite lamp on chest, Savant Vintage, 615.385.0856; painting (to right of chest), Craig Greene, craiggreeneart.com.

POPPY’S BEDROOM: Chair, Poppy by Oly, olystudio.com; headboard fabric, Juin, by Schumacher. MASTER BEDROOM: Feather light fixture, Architectural Heritage, architec turalheritage.com; bed, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, mgbwhome.com; bedside table, Worlds Away, worlds-away.com. DRESSING ROOM: Light fixture, Visual Comfort, visualcomfort.com; velvet on antique settee, Schumacher.

THE MAJESTY OF HIGHGROVE

PAGES 62–69, Highgrove Royal Gardens, highgrovegardens.com. PAGE 66: Seating

sculpture, Julian and Isabel Bannerman, bannermandesign.com. PAGE 69, EXPERIENCE THE COTSWOLDS: Bath, visitbath.co.uk; Tetbury, visittetbury.co.uk; The Close, cotswold -inns-hotels.co.uk/the-close-hotel. The Hare & Hounds Hotel, cotswold-inns-hotels.co.uk /hare-and-hounds-hotel; Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, forestryengland.uk /westonbirt-the-national-arboretum; Stowon-the-Wold, cotswolds.com; Bourton-onthe-Water, bourtoninfo.com; The Cotswold Motoring Museum & Toy Collection, cotswold motoringmuseum.co.uk; Bibury, bibury.com; Cirencester, cirencester.co.uk; Corinium Museum, coriniummuseum.org; The Parish Church of St. John Baptist, cirenparish.co.uk; Barnsley House, barnsleyhouse.com.

A LASTING IMPRESSION

PAGES 70–79: Interior design, Charlotte Coote of Coote & Co., cooteandco.com.au. Dining room paint color, Glamour Puss by Resene (half strength on ceiling), resene.co.nz; fabric on dining room chairs, Alexandrie by Pierre Frey, pierrefrey.com

PLANTSVILLE PINES

PAGES 42–51: Arbors, configured with arbors from A Rustic Garden, arusticgarden.com; select seeds, Select Seeds, selectseeds.com.

IN HARMONY WITH NATURE

PAGES 52–61: Landscape architecture, Gavin Duke, pageduke.com; floral design, The Tulip Tree, thetuliptreeinc.net. DINING ROOM: Antique trestle table, Artifacts, 615.354.1267; drapery fabric, silk taffeta in Smoke by Schumacher, fschumacher.com. ENTRY: Table fabric and trim, Schumacher; limestone lamps and antique chandelier, Artifacts. POWDER

decorate bonus

Orion armless love seat ($2,050–$2,500) and Orion armless lounge chair ($1,150–$1,450) by Woodard, woodard-furniture.com. Pricing depends on finish and fabric selections.

VOLUME 14, ISSUE 3. Flower magazine, ISSN 1941-4714, is a bimonthly publication of Peony Publishing, LLC, located at 3020 Pump House Road, Birmingham, AL 35243. Periodicals postage is paid at Birmingham, AL, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Flower magazine, P.O. Box 433327, Palm Coast, FL 32164. For subscription inquiries and customer service, please call 877.400.3074. All unsolicited materials will not be returned.

Printed in the U.S.A.

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At the Table

Fanciful Flight COOL SHADES OF BLUE AND PINK ARE ELEVATED BY THE SYMMETRY OF GOLD HARLEQUIN CHINA SITTING ATOP A FETCHING LYREBIRD PATTERN Produced and styled by Amanda Smith Fowler • Photography by David Hillegas

Gold Parterre charger ($195), 8-inch plate ($80), and coffee cup and saucer ($95) by Halcyon Days, halcyon days.co.uk • Contessa milk jug ($275), teapot ($535), dinner plate ($254/set of 2), and bread plate ($188/ set of 2) in Indaco by Richard Ginori, richardginori1735.com • Soleil Levant salad plate ($90) in Lilac and bread-and-butter plate ($54; to the left of coffee cup and saucer)

by Bernardaud, bernardaud.com • Renaissance Amber water glass ($230) by Varga, devinecorp.net • Festival dinner napkin ($52/set of 4)

by Sferra, finelinens .com• Flux napkin ring in Gold ($88/ set of 4) by Kim Seybert, kimseybert .com • Torsade flatware ($1,600/ 5-piece place setting)

by Buccellati, buccellati .com • Lyrebird linenblend fabric in Aqua (to the trade) by Matthew Williamson for Osborne & Little, osborneandlittle.com

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